The invention pertains to an apparatus for conveying and sorting food items. In particular, the invention relates to an apparatus for removing single food items from a random stream of such items to form a single stream of food items having uniform distances between the items.
In the preparation of food items such as cookies, after the cookies have been baked, they are transferred from an oven to a conveyor belt to be conveyed thereby to a packaging station. When the cookies are dropped onto the conveyor belt from the oven, they are arranged randomly. In order to facilitate the packaging operation, it is desired to arrange the cookies into uniform streams or lines having uniform distances between cookies. It was the prior practice in the baking industry to use stationary guide members which directed the random streams of cookies into aligned streams. However, stationary members are not capable of arranging the streams of cookies with uniform distances between adjacent cookies.
Sorting devices are also used in other arts. For instance U.S. Pat. No. 1,523,985 to Parker discloses a device for filling matchboxes in which a rotary member with retractable spokes is utilized to separate a mass of matchsticks into a plurality of discreet bundles. As the matchsticks leave a conveyor, they come into contact with extended spokes of a rotary member. The distance between the extended spokes is approximately equal to the length of the box trays into which the matches are to be packaged. Such a device has not been found suitable though for separating items such as cookies. The spokes of the rotary guide of Parker are extended by the force of gravity. Rapid movement of the spokes when being extended in this manner could easily damage cookies. Moreover, Parker's device can only separate items into bundles and not single items.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,685,910 to Frederick discloses a machine for corrugating fibrous webs in which a rotary element is used to perform the actual corrugating operation. A rotary device is provided with spring loaded opposite spokes. That is, the spokes which are directly opposite one another are forced apart by a spring disposed between the two spokes. A cam is disposed axially within the rotary member such that the spokes are extended one after the other as the inside ends thereof come into contact with the increasing diameter of the axial cam. This arrangement has not found application in the food items sorting art for several reasons, including the fact that the rotary member cannot be used adjacent a conveying surface due to the forced extension of the spokes.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for conveying and sorting food items, specifically cookies and like shaped items, in which the food items are directed into single streams having uniform distances between the items.
It is a further object of the invention to provide such a conveying and sorting apparatus in which the conveying and sorting process is carried out without damage to the food items.